EMBASSY MINSK WEEKLY REPORT - July 17, 2006

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 MINSK 000740

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SIPDIS

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SUBJECT: EMBASSY MINSK WEEKLY REPORT - July 17, 2006

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1. The following are brief items of interest compiled by
Embassy Minsk.

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Political Parties
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2. Pro-Lukashenko Communists Proclaim Merger with Opposition
Communists

On July 15, the leadership of the pro-Lukashenko Communist Party
of Belarus (CPB) declared a merger with the opposition Belarusian
Party of Communists (BPC) and said that the new party would adopt
the CPB's ideology. In a statement issued following CPB's "merger
conference" in Minsk, delegates said that the parties had been
merged per the "will of most Communists in the country." The
controversial conference resulted in the decision to re-register
certain grassroots organizations of the BPC as CPB chapters.
According to conference organizers, more than 150 CPB delegates and
over 70 BPC members attended the conference. BPC Chairman Sergey
Kalyakin condemned the merger conference as a staged-managed effort
by the government to liquidate the influential opposition party and
insisted that the conference had been held in violation of Belarus'
Political Parties Law. He noted that only two BPC members had
attended the merger conference and that both were expelled from the
BPC. Many BPC members reportedly complained that authorities had
attempted to coerce them to attend the conference.


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Civil Society
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3. Former Opposition Candidate Sentenced to Five and a Half years
in Prison

On July 13, a judge of the Moskovsky District Court sentenced
former presidential candidate Aleksandr Kozulin to five and a
half years in a medium-security prison. Kozulin was accused of
two counts of hooliganism and one count of disturbing the
public peace. The public prosecutor demanded a six-year prison
sentence for the politician. On the final day of the trial,
the judge ordered the courtroom cleared before reading the
verdict.


4. Police Detain as Many as Forty People Near Russian Embassy

On July 16, Belarusian authorities detained as many as 40
people near the Russian Embassy (located next to the American
Embassy). The demonstrators intended to focus attention on
political repression in Belarus during the G-8 Summit in St.
Petersburg and to urge Russia to cease its support for the
Belarusian regime. Police reportedly detained and beat several
demonstrators in buses. Authorities detained United Civic
Party leader Anatoly Lebedko and opposition activist Zmitser
Barodka. Lebedko could be charged with "minor hooliganism"
under Article 156 of Belarus' criminal code.


5. Imprisoned Politician Sends Letters Criticizing Parole Denial,
Prison Conditions

Opposition politician Andrei Klimov, who is serving a "restricted
freedom" sentence in the Gomel region, sent open letters to
President Lukashenko, Prosecutor General Pyotr Miklashevich, and
Justice Minister Viktor Golovanov. Klimov suggests specific
measures to improve conditions in barracks for those sentenced to
"restricted freedom," criticizes the correctional facility's
refusal to parole him, and alleges that the Interior Ministry has
violated the law by charging him for living in the correctional
institution's barracks. Klimov was sentenced in June 2005 to 18
months of "restricted freedom" for staging an anti-government
protest in Minsk. He may leave the barracks for work during
daytime with an obligation to report at an appointed time.


6. Nearly 400 Students Appeal for Support of Political Victims

On July 9, Inna Kulei, the coordinator of a committee for
supporting the victims of political repression in Belarus, reported
the she has already accepted applications for assistance from about
370 university students who have been expelled or are under threat
of expulsion for their political activities. (Note: Most reliable
Embassy contacts, including those working with Kulei, dispute
Kulei's estimate, asserting that the true number is significantly
lower.) According to Kulei, about 30 percent of applicants have
not yet been expelled but complain about harassment and pressure by
their schools' administrations. She claims that up to five
students appeal to the committee every day in connection with
problems that they have at their schools because of their
opposition political views.


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7. Taxi Drivers Protest Company Closure

On July 14, in protest of the authorities' decision to close taxi
company "0-52" and seize its dispatch frequency, between 50 and 100
taxi drivers assembled their vehicles near the ONT television
broadcasting building in Minsk and blocked all adjacent roads with
their cars. Drivers demanded access to live television to voice
their grievances. The GOB decided to close the company, leaving
700 drivers unemployed. Authorities have held 0-52's manager in
pre-trial detention for several months under charges of non-payment
of taxes.

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International Relations
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8. DefMin Maltsev To Visit Cuba

On July 18, the Belarusian Defense Minister will travel to Cuba on
a three-day visit to discuss bilateral military cooperation with
with Raul Castro, Cuba's defense chief and brother of Cuban leader
Fidel Castro. According to the Belarusian defense ministry's press
office, Raul Castro expressed an interest in meeting with Maltsev.


9. Belarus, Russia's Kamchatka Province Sign Cooperation Agreement

On July 12, Belarusian Prime Minister Sergei Sidorsky and Mikhail
Mashkovtsev, Governor of Russia's Kamchatka province, signed an
agreement on trade, economic, scientific, technical and cultural
cooperation following talks held in Minsk on July 10-12.
Mashkovtsev said that the provincial administration and the
Belarusian government are considering the creation of a joint
fishing company that would supply Pacific Ocean fish to Belarus and
that Kamchatka would purchase BelAZ dump trucks for coal extraction
sites. He reportedly praised the Belarusian authorities for the
establishment of an "efficient state system" that increased
Belarus' industrial and agricultural potential.


10. Court Confiscates Lithuanian Stray Aircraft, Imposes Another
Fine on Pilot

On July 11, a district court in the Grodno region ordered the
confiscation of a Lithuanian aircraft that intruded into Belarusian
airspace last month and imposed an additional fine of USD 2,894 on
the pilot, Tadas Blazevicius. Blazevicius and his sister Indre
illegally crossed the Belarusian border on June 6 in a German-made
CTSW light sport plane. A Belarusian Su-25 Frogfoot forced the
Lithuanian plane to make a landing at a military airfield 40
kilometers inside Belarus, Grodno region, some 40 kilometers into
Belarus. Both Blazevicius and his sister had already paid fines of
USD 2,170 after being found guilty on June 13 of illegally crossing
the Belarusian border. They were expelled from Belarus on June 14.

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Economy
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11. Belarusian Authorities Intend to Start Talks with Suppliers of
Nuclear Plant Equipment

Although the Belarusian authorities have not yet announced a
decision on the construction of a nuclear power station, officials
have reportedly suggested locating a plant near Krasnopolye in the
Bykhov district, Mogilyov region, or near Shklov, Mogilyov region.
According to Acting Head of the Nuclear Safety Department of the
Belarusian Emergency Management Ministry Vasily Galkovsky, foreign
suppliers of nuclear plant equipment, including Russian companies,
are prepared to negotiate possible contracts with Belarusian
authorities. On July 12, senior Belarusian government officials
and experts of Belarus' Sosny power engineering and nuclear
research facility met with the head of Russia's Federal Agency for
Nuclear Energy (Rosatom) in Moscow to discuss the Belarusian
nuclear plant project.


12. Finance Ministry Unveils 2007 Draft budget

On July 12, First Deputy Minister Anatoly Sverzh told a meeting of
the standing Committee on Budget, Finance and Tax Policy in the
House of Representatives that the Belarusian Finance Ministry has
submitted the 2007 draft budget to the Council of Ministers. Under
the draft budget, 4.83 percent of next year's expenditures on law-
enforcement and security, 19.38 percent the agricultural sector and
the road industry, 4.4 percent for housing construction and
maintenance organizations, and 2.55 percent for defense. Spending
on healthcare will total 10.42 percent of total government
expenditures, a one percent increase over this year. Sverzh said
the draft budget is still subject to amendments by the cabinet.

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Society
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13. Rock Concert to Mark Sixteenth Anniversary of Belarusian
Independence

Belarusian writer Vladimir Orlov and activists Valentina Svyatskaya
and Aleksandr Zhuchkov have applied to the Minsk City Executive
Committee for permission to hold a rock concert in Bangalore Square
in Minsk on July 27, the anniversary of Belarus' 1990 declaration
of Independence. The date had been observed as a national holiday
in Belarus until 1996 when the government changed Independence Day
to July 3, the day of Minsk's liberation from the Nazis. According
to Orlov, the concert would feature prominent Belarusian rock
stars. Under municipal regulations, authorities can ban the
concert as late as five days before July 27.


14. Minivan Owners Hunger Strike in Brest

Eleven people in Brest are on hunger strike against an import tax
on minivans. Four private minivan owners began the fast on July 5.
As of July 12, seven others, including minivan owners and their
spouses, joined the hunger protest against fines imposed on them
for failing to pay the minivan tax. Economic courts in Brest and
Minsk upheld the fines. One hunger striker, Lyubov Rezanovich,
told reporters, "We are not against the edict but against its
incorrect interpretation. Certain persons want to turn our strike
into a political issue. I would like to announce that there is no
politics behind." Minivan owners previously held such a strike in
September 2005.


15. Almost 100 drown in Belarus, Seven in Brest Region in One Day

According to Anatoly Golub, chairman of Belarus' national beach
patrol organization, OSVOD, announced that 96 people, including 11
under the age of 18, drowned in Belarus over the past week. The
largest number, about 25 people, drowned in rivers, lakes, and
ponds throughout the Minsk region. Meanwhile, seven people,
including one child, drowned in the Brest region on July 11, the
highest number of drowning fatalities registered in one day in the
region this year. According to OSVOD, most drownings occurred
because of intoxication and swimming in unauthorized areas.

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Quote of the Week
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16. After being sentenced to five and a half years of prison for
"hooliganism," former presidential candidate Aleksandr Kozulin
declared:

"Our country is turning into a penal colony. I have been opposing
this system. Today we should aim at freedom for all Belarusian
political prisoners, the entire Belarusian nation."

KROL